Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez has revealed he's held crunch talks with Xabi Alonso about the midfielder's future on Merseyside.

Alonso has been out of favour with the Liverpool boss for months and when Benitez made clear his anger that the Spaniard had not travelled to Milan to instead attend the birth of his son, it seemed a parting of the ways was inevitable.

But at the end of last week the pair had a meeting and thrashed out a peace pact that offered Alonso the chance of a first-team return.

Speaking after the meeting, Benitez joked that not only does he want to keep Alonso, he already wants to sign the player's new son.

Benitez said: "Xabi's father was a top player and Xabi is a top player, so already we are thinking about signing his son."